HOW TO SAVE (part 2)

1UTANG and GASTOS

-          Pay off debt

Credit cards, Loans and Utang sa kaibigan... Piso man yan or thousands, you have to prioritize getting it off your Credit list. Anong silbi ng  kumikita ka pero di nababawasan ang utang mo?

I borrow money from my friends sometimes.. but I make sure to pay them ASAP. Joke ng iba, di sila bangko o lending institution. You have to understand that like you, they have other expenses as well.

Offering installment may help you pay off your debt. Although some won’t accept installment payments (their reasoning is because they could spend it easily), you can still save a percentage of your debt in your “Saving wallet” until you could pay your debt in full.

-          Wag bilangin ang manok na di pa napipisa

My Uncle always tell us not to Buy stuffs if you don’t have money yet.

Sample:

You have Php 50 in your wallet

Your company will pay you Php 50 tomorrow for your salary

You saw a discounted Php100 shirt (original price is Php300) in the store and promo is valid only for today.

Would you buy the shirt?

Don’t. Never spend the money you still don’t have. Stay Calm, Keep your money and tell yourself “sige, next time nalang pag kumpleto na yung pera ko”. There would always be promotions like that in the future. This is the reason daw why some of the seafarers that he’s been with end up having more debt that savings.

-          Stop with the “trending”

“Ay! Uso ang nude sneakers! I have to buy one”

“Sosyal pag may Rayban or Gucci bag, bibili din ako”

“I’m addicted to makeup.. I have to buy this new matte lipstick”

I am not a fan of trendy stuffs. So hindi ko masyadong issue to. But I just can’t understand why people love buying new stuffs that are waaaay beyond their budget… Tapos magrereklamo sila na short na sila. Like, it’s okay to buy a new bag or glasses on your payday. But ask yourself first:

“Do I need it? or want it? or I’m just saying that I need it because I want it?” Di mo maloloko sarili mo because you know the truth.

This is all about being honest with yourself and deciding not only for the moment but for your future. Buying the item would give you joy.. but think about what happens after few months pag patong-patong na yung utang mo.

-          Once in a lifetime moments

Maybe the best excuse that I get is “Minsan lang to, sayang ang experience”.

Walang masama sa gala, outings or travel, as long as you know na di ka mababaon sa utang. My aunt once told me that she doesn’t regret spending a lot for the vacation as long as it makes her and everyone around her happy. I agree with her at that point. 

Wala naman kasing masama because knowing her, she is very industrious, she has a permanent high earning job and a lot of part-times. It may be contradicting with my point on “Wag bilangin ang manok na di pa napipisa” but I think it is okay if you would negate it with your personality… kung hahayaan mo bang kulangin ka ng pera or you will look for more sources of income to make for financial status stable. Again, depende naman kasi sa pagiging responsible ng tao yun.

-          Ang langgam at ang tipaklong

We all know this famous fable about the ant who saved up food for the rainy season and the grasshopper who just played around. We should remember to be the simple little ant and save as much as we can until the right time comes. We should be wise enough to make decisions like this.

When I went to U.S. last summer, I don’t have any savings. Pumunta ako on a vacation and left the money I saved at home. My mom, my aunt and uncle gave me some money as a gift but it was not even 20% of what my cousins have… (lol I don’t even think it is even 10%). It was ‘kinda sad and nakakapanglumo at some point. But my subconscious keep telling me “Relax, you made a good decision. At least pag-uwi mo ng Pinas, di butas ang bulsa mo”.“hayaan mo na.. bata pa kasi sila. They still don’t know the value of money and how hard it is to earn for yourself”

It's okay na magtiis, to limit yourself at some point... rather than wasting everything now and have nothing next week.

-          Be responsible before it’s too late

They say, experiences are the best teacher. My question, Aantayin mo pa bang you are #BrokeAF before mo ayusin ang finances mo?

Mas mahirap lumangoy sa 6ft deep na part ng ocean kaysa sa 2ft deep part near the shore. Why would you even wanna go deep into the sea of financial debt and credits if you have the chance to get off the water in the first place?

HOW TO SAVE (part 1)

First, You need something to put your savings into. For me, I have bank accounts (yes.. plural), Coinboxes and wallets.

-          WALLET:

o   First is my Personal wallet – I place here my food allowance for the day and extra money for personal stuffs I wanna buy, groceries, etc.

o   Coin purse – I place here extra coins and my transport fare allowance for the day.

o   Saving wallet – this wallet is where I keep the money that I have to deposit in my bank accounts (Savings or Investments) & where I put the money for paying bills (Philhealth, Pag-ibig, Insurance, Debt, etc.).

Every time I get my allowance/money for the week (Usually Sundays, I start to organize my budget by separating the amount needed for each bill, saving account, daily allowance and place it in their respective wallets. I use post-its to keep the money organized)

-          COIN BOXES:

o   I have this square container (Tupperware) where I keep all the coins at the end of every day. I make sure to empty my coin purse at night and get the amount I need for my daily fare (plus some extra coins) in the morning before leaving.

As much as possible, spend first the one peso coins and keep the Php5 or Php10 coins in the coin box. Sometimes, I can save up to Php100 worth of coins at the end of the week and use it to reward myself for budgeting wisely. Or if not, I use it to pay any liabilities I have.

-          SAVINGS ACCOUNTS:

My friend laughed at me after knowing I had 4 accounts in 4 different banks. Some even only have the “minimum amount” requirement kasi I admit, I love shopping online, I love staying at coffee shops and gala. But now I’m telling you that having these accounts are effective for me because slowly, I’m able to save.

o   Deposit Account – First I have is a BPI Easy savers account. It was my first bank account with no minimum balance. Most of you think it is a good idea because it is easy to maintain (that was I thought when I opened up the account), but in the long run, I realized it was not. Every time I inquire my balance, I get charged Php5 and Php10 for withdrawals. The interest rate is not even high enough to balance the amount I am charged of. In short, hindi talaga ako nakakapagsave.

After 4 years (nang mamulat ako sa realidad na wala akong pera to get me started after college), I decided to open an account (Syempre with BPI padin) I chose BPI Family Savings Bank’s Regular Savings Account (1k minimum) 0.50% interest rate and no charges for withdrawals.

Why BPI?

§  Because I can deposit real-time thru their machines, mas madali kong naipapasok ang ipon ko for the week

§  Depositing money over the counter is free. Plus their BEA machines is convenient (you just have to input in the computer what you want to do (e.g. deposit, pay for bills), the account number, amount and it will give you a queue number.

This ATM Account is the primary account I use, I save money in here and withdraw it anytime I need it. Di ako nakakaipon dito to be honest kasi there are lots of expenses and madalas short ako. This serves as my reminder na “Stop buying stuffs you WANT kasi minimum balance na ang account mo!”. At leaset, I get to limit myself pati hindi ko naiisip umutang kasi I know wala akong maipangbabayad.

About my Easy savers account, it is still active today. (5pesos lang yung laman to be honest) I kept it kasi dun dinedeposit yung freelance earnings ko. I seldom use it though.

o   Investment Account – My investment account is BDO ATM Debit Savings (2k minimum). This account is primarily for the purpose of Investing money and actually saving up. I’ve been studying UITFs for months now by reading about them and BDO is one of the leading bank to get started with investing because of their good performance.

Why BDO?

§  Easy Investment Plan – This program lets you invest in their UITFs with starting amount of 1 thousand pesos per month. I subscribed in this program and chose their UITF Balanced Fund to try out investing money. I chose the minimum amount to save kasi wala naman akong source of income but my allowance. So every month, I am push myself to save one thousand and BDO automatically debits it in my account and invest it. I can track my Investments Online thru their online banking facility.

§  Depositing in BDO is free for your home branch area (there are 4 branches in our city and 3 of it is near our home) I always choose the branch with the least number of clients so I get to deposit fast.

§  BDO is open until 6pm (I can still go their straight from school to deposit) and they are open even in SATURDAYS!

§  Their UITFs (from Money Market to Equity) are among the best performing UITFs in the country.

o   Emergency Savings Account – Here I have the money that I intend to save in the long run. It is a passbook savings account because seeing the savings I have in the passbook motivates me to save more. Bawal iwithdraw unless super duper emergency. I have the Security Build-up savings account (5k minimum)

Why Security Bank?

§  Some branches are open until 5pm (I can still go their straight from school to deposit) and they are open even in SATURDAYS!

§  Easy to open an account ONLINE through their website. They even offered to visit me in my HOME to deliver my card and passbook. But I declined and told them that I will just visit their branch. The transaction was very fast, my Debit Mastercard was released immediately (around 20 minutes or less compared when I opened up an account in BDO that took an hour…Plus my BDO card was only released after 2 weeks after account opening)

§  They have variety of savings accounts offered. I first wanted the “Money Builder” where you could get bonus interests (up to 1%, comparing that to regular banks with 0.10-0.25% p.a.). These accounts are designed for you to limit your withdrawals which is helpful para makapag-save ka talaga.

§  UITFs!!! Their Equity Fund Investments are among the best performing in the country lately. 3 out of 4 of their Aggressive Funds ranked in the top 10 according to uitf.ph site. Plus looking at their performance, marketing strategies, I could see that this bank would really perform great in the next few years.

§  Few customers. A friend told me that it is better to get a bank with few customers because you will be their priority. I agree because it only takes minutes for me to deposit in their branch compared to lining up in BPI’s over the counter. Plus I get to talk more to the bank tellers and ask for financial advices and inquire more about their products.

Having more than one account is effective for me because through this, I can save money. I am also learning and training myself to be responsible in my finances, yet balance the savings and enjoyment.

D-I-Y Gayuma

Gayuma

- a love charm, potion.- According to Filipino folk belief, gayuma is a love potion that is used to attract a mate. The potion's magical property is said to work best when taken by the potential partner, often mixed in a drink. As with any other mystical folk item, the effectiveness of a gayuma only works if the caster believes in its power. -from WikipilipinasI created a new site dedicated to share some of my gift ideas for your loved ones to give during special occassions like birthdays, Valentine's day and Christmas seasons.This blog would include tutorials, D-I-Y guides for customized gifts and Inspiration for future projects to give your boyfriends, girlfriends, sweethearts, best friends, parents and your loved ones on every special occassion. (no need of making them drink actual love potions to keep them in love with you) *winks*The aim of this page is to share some knowledge and help everyone think of the perfect gift for their loved ones to keep their relationship healthy and last longer

Hence the name D-I-Y Gayuma.I'm really excited to share all of my ideas!
Click the DIY Gayuma tab above or Click here to view my homepage. Click here for a shortcut to the gift idea galleries